In a way, it kind of feels like the Spurs have switched places with their IH-10 Rivals this season. While they’re close in the standings, it has been two entirely different seasons for the Spurs and Houston Rockets. Both teams have been on similar rebuild schedules, with Rockets being a year ahead, and it culminated in them rising to the second seed in the West last season before they were upset in the first round by the Warriors. They appeared to address most depth issues in the offseason and add more
star power with the addition of Kevin Durant, but so far, it has been a letdown season in no small part due to the loss of Fred VanVleet.
Meanwhile, the Spurs are experiencing the same rise the Rockets did last season, from play-in-contender who ultimately missed out the season before, all the way up to the second seed the next (although hopefully the similarities end there when all is said and done). Additions like Dylan Harper, Luke Kornet and a healthy version of De’Aaron Fox has shored up depth issues from last season and helped them not only survive a spate of injuries, but even thrive.
Today, the two rivals meet up for the first time since early in November, when the Spurs won a tight contest that was ultimately the launching point to them winning their group and making the NBA Cup Finals.
San Antonio Spurs (30-13) at Houston Rockets (25-15)
January 20, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
Watch: NBC/Peacock | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs injuries: Not due until 1 PM.
Rockets Injuries: Steven Adams — out (ankle); Tari Eason — questionable (ankle); Fred VanVleet — out (knee)
What to watch for
No point guard for the Rockets
In a situation the Spurs can relate to from a couple of seasons ago, Houston has been playing the entire season without a true point guard after VanVleet suffered a torn ACL in September. As a result, it has been a point-guard-by-committee approach, with those duties being split between players like Amen Thomson and Reed Sheppard. The result has been a bottom 10 team in the league in turnovers and an offense that can get stagnant and lean too much on Durant at times, but that doesn’t mean the Spurs can take them lightly. They have improved a decent amount in taking care of the ball in the month of January and still rank 4th overall in offensive net rating.
Can the Spurs take their newfound offense on the road?
The Rockets played a very road-heavy schedule to start the season, playing 23 of their first 36 games away from home. (I don’t know why; I work just up the street from the Toyota Center, and unlike the Rodeo for the Spurs, there was nothing of note going on there.) The trade off was fewer games and back-to-backs, but still exhausting. Regardless, they have still have the second best record at home in the West at 14-3 and are currently 3-1 on their current five-game homestand, including a win over the Timberwolves.
At the same time, while the Spurs are a good road team this season at 13-8, Houston has been one of those places that gives them trouble over the years, even during their dynasty days. It’s probably safe to say they rediscovered their offensive form during their three-game homestand, and now they have to take it on the road into a hostile environment. They showed it was no problem earlier in the season, so hopefully the offense starts traveling with them again.
Size on size
Even without Steven Adams, whom the Rockets have played much better with than without, they are still a long, strong team with players like Alperen Sengun, Durant and Jabari Smith. The Spurs also have plenty of length alongside Wemby, especially when they go French Vanilla by playing him with Kornet. I imagine they definitely would have broken it out if Adams was available, but they still might, especially if Wemby keeps shooting threes at this rate, having hit 16-27 over the last three games.
For the Rockets fans’ perspective, visit The Dream Shake.
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